| What should Dinosaurs be classified as? |
| Birds |
|
20% |
[ 2 ] |
| Lizards |
|
10% |
[ 1 ] |
| A New Class |
|
30% |
[ 3 ] |
| Other (explain) |
|
40% |
[ 4 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 10 |
|
| Author |
Message
|
| SuperNatendo |
 Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:25 pm Post subject: Classifying Dinosaurs |
 |
|
Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
|
Reptiles are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers. They are tetrapods (having or having descended from vertebrates with four limbs) and amniotes, whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane.
By this definition, I think it is safe to point out that Dinosaurs don't quite fit in this category. Especially after it has been found that most of them were warm blooded and more and more discoveries support that more and more species of them have been discovered to have had feathers.
While I agree with the consensus to place most dinosaurs in the same class as birds, I'm not sure what to think about species of tetrapods such as Brachiosaurus and triceratops, and other dinosaurs utilizing all four of their legs for walking.
_________________
“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.†- Mark Twain |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| BumFluff |
| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Senior
Joined: 06 Mar 2008
Posts: 378
Location: Canada
|
I don't think you can classify all dinosaurs as one species just as you can't classify all mammals as one species. Some would be classified under birds as well some would be classified under reptiles and a host of other classifications. I think you need to narrow your topic down to specific types of dinosaurs. As with those large four legged dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus I'm not too sure what classification they'd be under. Most likely Lizard. The big meat eaters such as Tyranosaurus Rex and Albertosaurus should be classified under birds in my opinion. How about ankylosaurus? I think they should be classified under lizards and Triceratops and Styracosaurus in my opinion should be labbeled under mammals.
_________________
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt" - Bertrand Russell |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| KALSTER |
| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 2060
Location: South Africa
|
One defining characteristic of dinosaurs is the shape of their hip-bones. The hind legs point downwards, instead out sideways and then down (crocodiles). Birds share this feature and lizards do not.
_________________
"Gullibility kills" - Carl Sagan |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| free radical |
| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 501
|
| Isn't it established that there are a few different dinosaur lineages, some of which group with birds and others which don't? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| marnixR |
| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 2393
Location: Cardiff, Wales
|
that doesn't matter - it has been established that Dinosauria is a perfectly good, monophyletic clade if you include birds, a paraphyletic one if you don't
for a more inclusive term you could use "Archosauria", which would also include crocodiles, pterosaurs and "thecodontia"
_________________
if you find this place too crowded or too confrontational, how about trying Philosophorum,
the amicable forum where small is beautiful and even the trolls are intelligent
biology without evolution is but stamp collecting |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| arkofnoah |
| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Freshman
Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 86
|
There has been recent discoveries that dinosaurs in fact has a different mode of metabolism, most evident in its mode of thermoregulation, than modern organisms.
For years scientists have been debating whether dinosaurs are cold-blooded or warm-blooded. From new data (such as the fact that dinosaurs have higher metabolic rate than modern cold-blooded reptiles, which is not characteristic of ectotherms) it appears to be somewhere in between.
Based on this alone, dinosaur is neither reptiles nor birds, so it most likely belongs to a separate class. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| spuriousmonkey |
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 714
|
Many cold-blooded species are capable of maintaining a higher temperature.
The great white shark for instance. It's not even a reptile. Not even a bony fish.
Tunafish.
I'm afraid that cold-warm bloodedness isn't really a black and white area. Lots of grey.
_________________
“A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, - a mere heart of stone.†|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
